the
Kl ICC
11 LI r c
■ ■ ■■■ ■ ■ ■■■
Shopping for friends
and relatives does not
have to be stressful or
lead to bankruptcy if
one considers some
simple suggestions.
Volume 84 No. 4
ffighLIFE
(.6,
“How
unfortunate
it is that
members
of the film
industry
have beeome so mentally
bloeked that their nego
tiators merely replace
some stars, modify a few
settings, and apply some
new graphics before
throwing the old reels out
to dry.
5?
News
New construction takes
place across the county
to improve schools and
make way for student
population growth.
page 2
Opinion
New trend emerges to
eat bugs as a high
source of protein with
little to no fat instead
of beef and chicken.
page 4
Features
Latest version of “Call
of Duty” video game
earns praise from
gamers for its impres
sive multiplayer mode.
pages
Sports
Rough storm causes
enough damage to
inconvenience local
swimmers until some
time in late January.
page 11
index
News
2
Opinion
3-5
Spread
6-7
Features
8-10
Sports
11-12
Grimsley High School
801 Westover Terrace
Greensboro, NC 27408
December 21, 2011
Holiday festivities across the Piedmont
provide entertainment, holiday joy for all
BY LINDSEY STADLER
Reporter
Taking place right here in
Greensboro are a variety of
holiday season events. The
23rd annual Festival of Lights,
which took place downtown in
Center City Park on December
2, featured the music of over 20
performing groups, free hot
chocolate provided by the Sal
vation Army and 107.5 KZL,
and Santa Claus himself, who
took holiday requests from chil
dren. The festival began with a
performance by the NCA&T
Fellowship Gospel Choir. New
to the schedule was FestQuest,
a scavenger hunt that encour
aged people to visit a variety
of historical buildings and the
businesses that now occupy
them. Clues were printed in the
"News & Record," and then
scavenger-hunters collected
QR codes. Those individuals
who collected them all won
prizes that downtown busi
nesses and restaurants do
nated. Another new addition
was an area devoted to featur
ing a "Hot, Hot Holidays"
theme, which included palm
trees, chili pepper lights, and
leis. The steel drum band Hot
Pink Flamingos and the horn
band Peacemakers also per
formed, providing tropical
sounds. Games like cactus ring
toss and limbo were also popu
lar. Lighting the 38-foot tree
donated by the Joseph M. Bryan
Foundation was the highlight
of the evening.
Opening on November 16,
the outdoor ice skating rink
downtown is available to the
public through January 29. It
is the largest outdoor rink in
the state. Holiday-themed
plays also crowd the calendar,
such as "Christmas from
Dublin: A Traditional Irish
Christmas" on December 1 at
the Carolina Theatre; "A
Christmas Carol" at Triad
Stage until December 24; "The
Nutcracker" ballet on Decem
ber 9-11 and 16-18; and a spe
cial showing of "The Santa
Clause" also at the Carolina
Theatre on December 10 for
free admission.
Menorah lighting and Ha-
nukkah festivities will take
place at Center City Park, be
ginning at 4:30 pm on Decem
ber 22. Candlefest took place
on December 3 at the Arbore
tum, where visitors enjoyed
refreshments while viewing
the beautiful walkways lined
with over 4,000 luminaries.
Live music, along with horse
and carriage rides, was avail
able as well.
Greensboro Symphony put
on its 24th annual Holiday
Concert, sponsored by Sealy
and Fox 8, at the Coliseum on
December 9. Admission to the
concert was free with the
donation of a food item to
the Salvation Army. Accord
ing to an article on
VisitGreensboroNC.com, last
year's concert earned over
$21,000 and collected more
than 70,000 cans of food.
Greensboro Jaycees Holiday
Parade, a downtown tradition
for more than 35 years, took
place on December 3 from 12-2
pm. The parade, like always,
took place downtown and fea
tured floats, dancing teams,
vehicles, Macy's-style bal
loons, and marching bands.
Some of the balloons included
in the parade were the Grinch,
Santa, and Raggedy Arm. On
December 21, Temple Emanuel
will be hosting a Congrega
tional Chanukah Party featur
ing menorah lighting, a cos
tumed Judah Maccabee telling
a story, music, food, arts and
crafts, games, and more.
People willing to travel a
short distance from Greens
boro to Clemmons, North Caro
lina for some holiday fun will
not be disappointed with a trip
to Tanglewood Park, one of the
largest light shows in the
southeast. On its 20th anniver
sary, the park will transform
into a winter wonderland
through the first of the new
year, displaying breathtaking
light displays and wintery,
holiday scenes. Children will
have an opportunity to see
Santa and Mrs. Claus and en
joy horse-drawn carriage
rides. A Christmas tree lot will
also be available to the public.
Teen Grant-Making Council
provides funds to young people
who contribute to the community
BY MAC BALL
Sports Editor
Thanks to the Community
Foundation of Greater Greens
boro, high school students and
area teens are helping improve
youth-led organizations in the
Guilford County area. Teenag
ers from Grimsley, Page,
Greensboro Day School, North
ern, Northwest, and
Western Guilford, along with
home-schooled students and
the Guilford and GTCC early
colleges, comprise The Teen
Grant-making Council. Com
munity Foundation member
Trad Poole and the Foundation
board give at least $5000 dol
lars to the group each year,
with the possibility of gaining
another $1000 every month
depending upon attendance. A
minimum of 75% of the group
must attend meetings on time
as a prerequisite for the money.
Whirlie students include
senior Steven Buccini, junior
Mac Ball, sophomore Elizabeth
Reeve, and freshman She'Neka
Williams. Along with the other
members, they meet monthly
at the Community Foundation
office downtown where they
discuss philanthropy and seek
new ways of reaching out to
youth and publicizing the
grant applications.
"I think it's really neat that
teens are entrusted with a lot
of money to make a difference.
I get to work with many differ
ent people from a lot of differ
ent backgrounds and help
other teenagers make a differ
ence in our community,"
said Buccini.
Most people in the group
would agree with him, as they
have morphed into a united
front, unlike the beginning of
the year when the members
were not very familiar with
each other; several were ner
vous to open up to complete
strangers. Through the past
few months, the organization
has been able to achieve more
goals in their meetings and
have currently distributed
grant applications to inter
ested groups hoping to gain up
to $2000 each.
Qualifications for the grant
are twofold. Middle school or
high school students must
run the groups applying for
the funding and the money
must support a legitimate
project the group is plaiming
that will help or reach out to
the community.
TGC's leader Traci Poole has
been working with the group
since its beginning six years
ago when the Community
Foundation board agreed to
give a group of teenagers a cer
tain amount of money to learn
about philanthropy; conse
quently, the students helped
the community in a positive
manner. While some think it
is too risky for a group of high
school students to hold such
large sums of money and
to give it away freely to other
high school students, TGC and
Poole disagree.
In their sixth year, the group
has granted almost $50,000
to Greensboro's youth and
thus noticeably affected the
lives of elementary school stu
dents, along with underprivi
leged children enduring
poverty. Also, the council has
provided money to the
Grimsley Robotics Team for the
past few years, helping its
members participate in large,
costly events.
Fortunately, for these high
school groups, the Community
Foundation board agreed to
ensure the council's future for
at least three more years.